US Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) introduced Congressional Review Act legislation to revoke the US Environmental Protection Agency’s amended risk management programs rule amendments that became final on Jan. 13 and would go into effect on Mar. 14.

“Predictably, the Obama administration continued to issue harmful and overreaching regulations until the bitter end. EPA’s RMP rule is no exception,” he said on Feb. 2.

The program is intended to reduce the risk of accidental releases that could affect areas close to manufacturing plants, Mullin said. But EPA exceeded its jurisdictional limits by encroaching on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulated areas and making a rule final that not only fails to enhance safety, but may in fact compromise national security, he contended.

He introduced H.J. Res. 59 soon after the American Petroleum Institute, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, US Chamber of Commerce, and 18 other business groups asked leaders of the 115th Congress to use the CRA to disapprove EPA’s final risk management practices rule covering accidental chemical releases (OGJ Online, Jan. 26, 2017).